DOCSLIB.ORG

Russian Cinema Sample Syllabus

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

1 Russian 270 W; FILM 297.64 SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET CINEMA AND SOCIETY SAMPLE SYLLABUS Course Description: The purpose of this course is to study the ways in which Russian filmmakers have used the medium of cinema to explore history, culture, politics, and social issues prevalent in the Russian society at different periods of its development from mid-19th century till today. The course will follow the development of Soviet and Russian cinema from Golden Age of silent films, through the periods of Socialist Realism, WWII, the Thaw, Stagnation, Perestroika, and finally the Russian Federation up to the present day. By the end of the course students will have a solid grasp of the Russian film aesthetics, theory, production, history and culture. He/or she will acquire critical tools to provide an informed verbal and written analysis of the films and discuss how various aesthetic and ideological approaches to filmmaking inform the cinema practice over the time. The course will combine screening of Russian films and class discussion of issues raised in these films. All students are expected to complete the assigned readings of chapters in history book and other material prior to each class and print out questionnaires for class discussions posted on the course blackboard after the film screenings. Informed class participation is strongly encouraged and will positively affect your final term grade. Course setup, communications, and class discipline: 1. Since pdf files of some articles and film reviews are to be posted on the Course Backboard site, check the blackboard site for this course weekly or more for announcements and other assignments. 2. I will be sending email via blackboard (bb) which goes to your Hunter address. You have the following options: a. check your Hunter email account b. forward your Hunter email to your preferred address c. email [email protected] and ask them to change your email address for course code. 3. Cell phones, ipods, pagers, and other similar devices must be off during class. 2 4. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get the notes from another student, to complete any assignments given during your absence, and to learn of any schedule changes. I suggest you exchange contact information with a few students early in the semester. 5. Class attendance of both screening and discussion parts of the class is compulsory. If you can’t attend a class for a good reason, you must notify the course instructor by e-mail and provide adequate proof of your reason for absence. You are allowed one unexcused absence without penalty. An excused absence must be documented (e.g. doctor’s note). Please bear in mind that your attendance grade (part of overall grading) is lowered two grade points for each unexcused absence. If you miss two or more classes regardless of its reason, you may not be allowed to take the final exam. Unexcused class tardiness is equally unacceptable. In fact, coming to class late twice will count as one absence. Course Requirements: 3. Examinations and term paper: There will be two examinations in the form of essays during the semester: midterm and final. The midterm examination will be written during the first half (5:40 – 6:55pm) of the class (TBA). The final examination will be written in class as scheduled. Term paper. The list of suggested pairs of films and paper topics is posted on the course blackboard. You may choose other pairs of Russian/American (or Russian versus a film from cultures other than American providing that the film is available in English subtitles). You may also approach comparing and contracting suggested pairs of films on the list from another vantage point or explore another issue common to them. In both cases, before choosing a term paper topic not on the offered list, you are advised to consult with the course instructor. Russian films other than those shown in class are available on Hunter Library Reserve (second floor). Term Paper Format: 8-10 pages (2,000-3,000 words), numbered throughout, font #12 (courier preferable), double-spaced, at least 1” margins. READINGS: The readings will be drawn from a required reader (see below) and articles to be posted on BlackBoard (BB) http://bb.hunter.cuny.edu. Please buy the book immediately so that the bookstore can order additional copies as needed (they tend to under-order). Required Texts: Available in Shakespeare Books (Lex. Ave. bet. 68 and 69 St.), and on reserve in the library. Shakespeare works with financial aid vouchers. Texts required: John Thompson, Russia and the Soviet Union Recommended Literature (on Library Reserve): Andrei Sinyavsky, Soviet Civilization Peter Kenez, Cinema and Soviet Society Anna Lawton, Kinoglasnost Anna Lawton (ed.) The Red Screen 3 Riha (ed.), Readings in Russian Civilization, v. 3 Grading Policy To pass the course, you must complete all the requirements. Final papers to be printed out in prescribed format. Please also bear in mind that this is intensive writing (W) course. All exams and term paper are to be written in English only. You will be graded not only on how well you explore a given topic but also on the quality of your writing. The Writing Center is available for help with the logistics of good writing. They have appt. and drop-in hours. http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/hours.html Your term grade breakdown: 30 pts 1. Midterm (Friday, October 17) 30 pts 2. Final Exam [date and time TBA] 30 pts 3. Term paper due on (or before) the last class meeting (December 5) 10 pts 4. Attendance & Class Participation A+ 98-100 B+ 88-89 C+ 78-79 D 60-69 A 93-97 B 83-87 C 70-77 F 0-59 A- 90-92 B- 80-82 A indicates work of superior quality. It is on time, contains almost no factual errors, and expresses fully developed (possibly thought-provoking) ideas that show theoretical sophistication. The writing is eloquent and imaginative. B indicates work of good quality. It is on time, well thought out, well written, and accurate with only a few insignificant factual errors or omissions. It repeats ideas that have been hashed out in class but without drawing innovative connections or conclusions. C indicates work of acceptable quality. It is on time, adequately written but does not shine, with a few factual errors or omissions that reflect a coarse grasp of ideas. D or F indicates work of poor quality. It makes serious factual errors, or doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t answer the question or has little relevance to the question or assignment. Answers are superficial or irrelevant regarding the question posed. Hunter College Policy on Academic Integrity: "All work completed for this course must be completed by the student enrolled in the course. All work for this course must be made in this course and not fulfilling the requirements of another prior or current course unless pre-approved by the instructor. Plagiarism is a very serious academic offense which will result in penalties ranging from reduction of class grade to failure in the course. Plagiarism occurs when the ideas, images, and words, published or unpublished, of others are presented as one’s own without citing the original source. Plagiarism also occurs when the papers, research, or creative works of another person are presented as one’s own work." 4 "Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g. plagiarism, cheating on examinations…) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty.” Cheating, including plagiarism, will result in an F in the course, and will be reported to the Dean. For guidelines on distinguishing between paraphrasing and plagiarizing go to: **http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/qpp.html A (tentative) Course Schedule: Week 1 1. Introduction to the course 2. Screening of documentaries on Russian history 2 Read: Thompson, Chapter 8. 1. Screening of documentaries on Russian history (continued) 2. Screening of Oblomov (Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov, 1979, 140 min) 3 Read: Thompson, Chapter 9. 1. Discussion of Oblomov 2. Screening of An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano (Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov, 1977, 105 min) 4 Read: Thompson: Chapter 10 1. Discussion of An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano 2. Screening of Of Men and Freaks (Dir. Alexei Balabanov, 1998, 95 min) 5 Read: Thompson: Chapter 11 1. Discussion of Of Men and Freaks 2. Screening of Flight (Dir. Alexander Alov and Vladimir Naumov, 1970, 196 min) 6 Review: Thompson: Chapter 11 1. Discussion of Flight 2. Screening of Heart of a Dog (Dir. Vladimir Bortko, 1988, 130 min) 7 Review: Thompson: Chapter 11 1. Discussion of Heart of a Dog 2. Screening of From Lenin to Stalin (documentary) 8 Read: Thompson: Chapter 12 1. MIDTERM (5:40 -6:55 pm) 2. Screening of The Road to Life 5 9 To read in Thompson: Chapter 12 (211-24) Discussion of The Road to Life Realities of Stalinist Russia Screening of My Friend Ivan Lapshin (dir. Alexei Gherman) 10 To review in Thompson: 219-223 Discussion of My Friend Ivan Lapshin Screening of Volga-Volga (dir. Grigory Alexandrov) 11 To review in Thompson: Chapter 12 (211-24) To read in Thompson: Chapter 6 (Peter the Great) Discussion of Volga-Volga Justification of Strong Central Power Screening of Peter the Great (dir. Vladimir Petrov) 12 To read in Thompson: Chapter 12 (224-32) Discussion of Peter the Great Stalin’s Cult of and World War II Screening of Fall of Berlin (dir. Mikhail Chiaureli) 13 To read in Thompson: Chapter 13 (234-36, 243-7) Examination of Stalinism: Screening of The Inner Circle (dir.
Recommended publications
  • Ebook Download the Cinema of Russia and the Former Soviet

    Ebook Download the Cinema of Russia and the Former Soviet

    THE CINEMA OF RUSSIA AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Birgit Beumers | 288 pages | 30 Apr 2007 | WALLFLOWER PRESS | 9781904764984 | English | London, United Kingdom The Cinema of Russia and the Former Soviet Union PDF Book However, different periods of Soviet cinema have been covered quite unevenly in scholarship. Greenland is not a country. The result is an extraordinary, courageous work of documentary-making, austere yet emotive, which records soup distribution and riots alike with the same steady, unblinking gaze. Username Please enter your Username. Take Elem Klimov. Bill Martin Jr.. Even though it was wrecked by political unrest, the Russian economy continued to grow over the years. It offers an insight into the development of Soviet film, from 'the most important of all arts' as a propaganda tool to a means of entertainment in the Stalin era, from the rise of its 'dissident' art-house cinema in the s through the glasnost era with its broken taboos to recent Russian blockbusters. Votes: 83, Yet they still fail to make a splash outside of their native country. The volume also covers a range of national film industries of the former Soviet Union in chapters on the greatest films and directors of Ukrainian, Kazakh, Georgian and Armenian cinematography. Seven natural wonders. Article Contents. History of film Article Media Additional Info. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet squad. While Soviet and Russian cinema was rather understudied until the collapse of the USSR, since the early s there has been a rise in publications and scholarship on the topic, reflecting an increase in the popularity of film and cultural studies in general.
  • Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun H

    Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun H

    Title Page Framing, Walking, and Reimagining Landscapes in a Post-Soviet St. Petersburg: Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity by Kiun Hwang Undergraduate degree, Yonsei University, 2005 Master degree, Yonsei University, 2008 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2019 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Kiun Hwang It was defended on November 8, 2019 and approved by David Birnbaum, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Mrinalini Rajagopalan, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of History of Art & Architecture Vladimir Padunov, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Dissertation Advisor: Nancy Condee, Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures ii Copyright © by Kiun Hwang 2019 Abstract iii Framing, Walking, and Reimagining Landscapes in a Post-Soviet St. Petersburg: Cultural Heritage, Cinema, and Identity Kiun Hwang, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2019 St. Petersburg’s image and identity have long been determined by its geographical location and socio-cultural foreignness. But St. Petersburg’s three centuries have matured its material authenticity, recognizable tableaux and unique urban narratives, chiefly the Petersburg Text. The three of these, intertwined in their formation and development, created a distinctive place-identity. The aura arising from this distinctiveness functioned as a marketable code not only for St. Petersburg’s heritage industry, but also for a future-oriented engagement with post-Soviet hypercapitalism. Reflecting on both up-to-date scholarship and the actual cityscapes themselves, my dissertation will focus on the imaginative landscapes in the historic center of St.
  • NARRATING the NATIONAL FUTURE: the COSSACKS in UKRAINIAN and RUSSIAN ROMANTIC LITERATURE by ANNA KOVALCHUK a DISSERTATION Prese

    NARRATING the NATIONAL FUTURE: the COSSACKS in UKRAINIAN and RUSSIAN ROMANTIC LITERATURE by ANNA KOVALCHUK a DISSERTATION Prese

    NARRATING THE NATIONAL FUTURE: THE COSSACKS IN UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN ROMANTIC LITERATURE by ANNA KOVALCHUK A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Comparative Literature and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2017 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Anna Kovalchuk Title: Narrating the National Future: The Cossacks in Ukrainian and Russian Romantic Literature This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Comparative Literature by: Katya Hokanson Chairperson Michael Allan Core Member Serhii Plokhii Core Member Jenifer Presto Core Member Julie Hessler Institutional Representative and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2017 ii © 2017 Anna Kovalchuk iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Anna Kovalchuk Doctor of Philosophy Department of Comparative Literature June 2017 Title: Narrating the National Future: The Cossacks in Ukrainian and Russian Romantic Literature This dissertation investigates nineteenth-century narrative representations of the Cossacks—multi-ethnic warrior communities from the historical borderlands of empire, known for military strength, pillage, and revelry—as contested historical figures in modern identity politics. Rather than projecting today’s political borders into the past and proceeding from the claim that the Cossacks are either Russian or Ukrainian, this comparative project analyzes the nineteenth-century narratives that transform pre- national Cossack history into national patrimony. Following the Romantic era debates about national identity in the Russian empire, during which the Cossacks become part of both Ukrainian and Russian national self-definition, this dissertation focuses on the role of historical narrative in these burgeoning political projects.
  • Soviet Science Fiction Movies in the Mirror of Film Criticism and Viewers’ Opinions

    Soviet Science Fiction Movies in the Mirror of Film Criticism and Viewers’ Opinions

    Alexander Fedorov Soviet science fiction movies in the mirror of film criticism and viewers’ opinions Moscow, 2021 Fedorov A.V. Soviet science fiction movies in the mirror of film criticism and viewers’ opinions. Moscow: Information for all, 2021. 162 p. The monograph provides a wide panorama of the opinions of film critics and viewers about Soviet movies of the fantastic genre of different years. For university students, graduate students, teachers, teachers, a wide audience interested in science fiction. Reviewer: Professor M.P. Tselysh. © Alexander Fedorov, 2021. 1 Table of Contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3 1. Soviet science fiction in the mirror of the opinions of film critics and viewers ………………………… 4 2. "The Mystery of Two Oceans": a novel and its adaptation ………………………………………………….. 117 3. "Amphibian Man": a novel and its adaptation ………………………………………………………………….. 122 3. "Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin": a novel and its adaptation …………………………………………….. 126 4. Soviet science fiction at the turn of the 1950s — 1960s and its American screen transformations……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 130 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 136 Filmography (Soviet fiction Sc-Fi films: 1919—1991) ……………………………………………………………. 138 About the author …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 150 References……………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………….. 155 2 Introduction This monograph attempts to provide a broad panorama of Soviet science fiction films (including television ones) in the mirror of
  • RUSSIAN WORLD VISION Russian Content Distributor Russian World Vision Signed an Inter- National Distribution Deal with Russian Film Company Enjoy Movies

    RUSSIAN WORLD VISION Russian Content Distributor Russian World Vision Signed an Inter- National Distribution Deal with Russian Film Company Enjoy Movies

    CISCONTENT:CONTENTRREPORTEPORT C ReviewОбзор of новостейaudiovisual рынка content производства production and и дистрибуции distribution аудиовизуальногоin the CIS countries контента Media«»«МЕДИ ResourcesА РЕСУРСЫ МManagementЕНЕДЖМЕНТ» №11№ 1(9) February №213 января, 1 April, 22, 20132011 2012 тема FOCUSномера DEARслово COLLEAGUES редакции WeУже are в happyпервые to presentдни нового you the года February нам, issue редак ofц theии greatПервый joy itномер appeared Content that stillReport there выходит are directors в кану whoн КИНОТЕАТРАЛЬНЫ Й CISContent Content Report, Report сразу where стало we triedпонятно, to gather что в the 2011 mostм treatСтарого film industryНового as года, an art который rather than (наконецто) a business за все мы будем усердно и неустанно трудиться. За вершает череду праздников, поэтому еще раз РЫНTVО КMARKETS В УКРАИН Е : interesting up-to-date information about rapidly de- velopingнимаясь contentподготовкой production первого and выпуска distribution обзора markets но хотим пожелать нашим подписчикам в 2011 ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИ Я КА К востей рынка производства и аудиовизуального годуAnd one найти more свой thing верный we’d likeпуть to и remindследовать you. емуPlan с- IN TAJIKISTAN, of the CIS region. As far as most of the locally pro- ning you business calendar for 2013 do not forget to ducedконтента series в этом and год TVу ,movies мы с радостью are further обнаружили distributed, упорством, трудясь не покладая рук. У каждого UZBEKISTAN,ОСНОВНОЙ ТРЕН ANDД что даже в новогодние праздники работа во мно свояbook timeдорога, to visit но theцель major у нас event одн forа – televisionразвивать and и and broadcast mainly inside the CIS territories, we media professionals in the CIS region - KIEV MEDIA РАЗВИТИ Я (25) pickedгих продакшнах up the most идет interesting полным хо andдом, original а дальше, projects как улучшать отечественный рынок.
  • Introduction

    Introduction

    CONNEXE 5 | 2019 Divided Memories, Shared Memories, Poland, Russia, Ukraine: History mirrored in Literature and Cinema >>>>> INTRODUCTION Korine AMACHER & Éric AUNOBLE Korine AMACHER & Éric AUNOBLE — Introduction Divided Memories, Shared Memories, Poland, Russia, Ukraine: History Mirrored in Literature and Cinema In 2017, general-interest magazines illustrated the centenary of the Russian Revolution with stills from Eisenstein’s October [Октябрь] (1927). One strikingly showed soldiers rushing across a square to represent the storming of the Winter Palace by Bolshevik fighters on 7 November 1917. In reality, the actual assault was slow and even laborious. But for Western audiences, this film sequence has become an archive image, a piece of history. This type of substitution of artistic representation for historical reality conflicts with the positive construction of our knowledge of the past. Indeed, historians long refused to include literature and films in their historical research, as well as art in general, which has been mainly analysed from an aesthetic point of view. The opening up of the archives following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the USSR in 1991 did, however, shake up historians’ research. For example, where once the bibliography on Eisenstein’s October1 mainly contained formal studies about the movie, matters changed with access to Soviet archives in the early 1990s. It emerged then how far the history of the film was actual history, providing valuable lessons for understanding Soviet communism. Frederick Corney has shown how Telling October (Corney 2004, 183) became fixed as a result of institutional constraints and the political balance of power.
  • Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian And

    Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian And

    Title Page Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema by Tetyana Shlikhar B.A. in Philology and Translation, Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, 2005 M.A. in Translation Studies, Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, 2006 Ph.D. in Translation Studies, Taras Shevchenko National University, Ukraine, 2010 M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, 2016 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2020 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Tetyana Shlikhar It was defended on July 31, 2020 and approved by David Birnbaum, Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures Vladimir Padunov, Associate Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures Randall Halle, Professor, German Dissertation Director: Nancy Condee, Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures ii Copyright © by Tetyana Shlikhar 2020 iii Abstract Between History and Memory: Cultural War in Contemporary Russian and Ukrainian Cinema Tetyana Shlikhar, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2020 Any approach to the past tailors our perception of the present, which is in turn inevitably elusive and unstable. The present is a site of contestation between memory and history, as well as a site for recounting the distant past by reflecting it through the prism of the present. The transition from the Soviet Union to independent states in 1991 triggered tensions within these newly created nation-states, with the collective and individual past being given a range of new interpretations. The connection between memory and identity obtained a renewed force.

  • 29Vision 2030: Acting for the Future of the Baltic Sea Region 29Th Baltic

    2YEARS9 Baltic Sea BSPCParliamentary Conference Vision 2030: Acting for the Future of the Baltic Sea Region 29th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference 2929 29th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference Digital - 24 August 2020 2YEARS9 Baltic Sea BSPCParliamentary Conference 2 Vision 2030: The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) Acting for the Future of the Baltic Sea Region was established in 1991 as a forum for political dialogue between parliamentarians from the Bal- th 29 Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference tic Sea Region. BSPC aims at raising awareness and opinion on issues of current political interest and relevance for the Baltic Sea Region. It pro- motes and drives various initiatives and efforts to Text: Marc Hertel and Bodo Bahr support a sustainable environmental, social and Layout: Produktionsbüro TINUS economic development of the Baltic Sea Region. It strives at enhancing the visibility of the Baltic Sea Region and its issues in a wider European context. BSPC gathers parliamentarians from 11 national parliaments, 11 regional parliaments and 5 parliamentary organizations around the Baltic Sea. The BSPC thus constitutes a unique parliamentary bridge between all the EU- and non-EU countries of the Baltic Sea Region. BSPC external interfaces include parlia- mentary, governmental, sub-regional and other organizations in the Baltic Sea Region and the Northern Dimension area, among them CBSS, HELCOM, the Northern Dimension Partnership in Health and Social Well-Being (NDPHS), the Baltic Sea Labour Forum (BSLF), the Baltic Sea States
  • Introduction Liliya Berezhnaya and Christian Schmitt Thus the Last Words of the Dying Taras Bulba, the Fictional Cossack Hero Of

    Introduction Liliya Berezhnaya and Christian Schmitt Thus the Last Words of the Dying Taras Bulba, the Fictional Cossack Hero Of

    INTRODUCTION Liliya Berezhnaya and Christian Schmitt “Farewell, comrades!” he shouted to them. “Remember me, and come back next spring to feast and carouse! So you thought, you’d caught us, you damn Poles? Do you think there is a single thing in this world that will frighten a Cossack? Just wait, the time will come when you will understand the mean- ing of the Russian Orthodox faith! Word has already spread through every nation: A Russian Czar will spring forth from the Russian earth, and there will be no power in this world that shall not yield to him!”1 Thus the last words of the dying Taras Bulba, the fictional Cossack hero of Nikolai Gogol’s historical short story of the same name. Bulba’s words have been repeated in cinema too, most recently in a film by Russian director Vladimir Bortko (Taras Bulba, 2009), which caused a strong and agitated media echo, especially in Russia.2 Bortko’s film inscribed a patri- otic message into its scenes that even exceeded Gogol’s revised version of the story (1842).3 The film sets a nationalist course right away by open- ing with another sappy Bulba-speech that links “comradeship” with the “Russian soul.” Like in Gogol, the border between “us” and “them” is also maintained with help of references to religion—a religion that the Poles, standing in for a rational and corrupt West, do not share. The last scene of the movie adds even more religious overtones; while the Cossacks are rid- ing to attack, they proclaim the slogan, “For Faith! For Russia!” The film’s images have already added to this by depicting Bulba’s death in patterns that are well-known in Hollywood too, most notably the iconography of martyrs burned at the stake for their faith.
  • The Author and the Magician Fusing Historical ‘Mysticism’ with Contemporary Cinema in Bortko’S Master�&�Margarita Troy Arnold

    The Author and the Magician Fusing Historical ‘Mysticism’ with Contemporary Cinema in Bortko’S Master&Margarita Troy Arnold

    The Author and the Magician Fusing Historical ‘Mysticism’ with Contemporary Cinema in Bortko’s Master & Margarita Troy Arnold Department of Russian and Slavic Studies University of Arizona Tucson, AZ From the archive section of The Master and Margarita http://www.masterandmargarita.eu Webmaster Jan Vanhellemont Klein Begijnhof 6 B-3000 Leuven +3216583866 +32475260793 “Что бы делало твоё добро, если бы не существовало зла. И как бы выглядела земля, если бы с нее исчезли тени?” I. Introduction That Mikhail Bulgakov’s seminal novel Master & Margarita enjoys a vaunted status in Russian society is to significantly understate its influence. For all intensive purposes, the novel is a sine qua non of Russian literature and culture as a whole, standing shoulder to shoulder with the great masterworks of Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and all those who followed. The main difference is its relatively lesser stature on the stage of world literature vis-à-vis those works. The reasons for this are likely dual: politically, it remains, arguably, the greatest Soviet novel; and culturally, it is exquisitely ‘Russian’, and thus difficult to grasp on any level deeper than superficial for a foreign reader. The novel is, then, a relatively well-kept secret outside of Russia. However, inside Russia, it retains its force as a cultural phenomenon, as evidenced by the recent references in the Russian media to its ‘mystic fame’ and the great anticipation of Vladimir Bortko’s adaptation of the story as a television mini-series. Simply put, to not understand the phenomenon is to not understand Russian culture. While the rest of the world was observing yuletide tradition and preparing for New Year’s celebrations, Russians were tuning into their televisions en masse .
  • Opinions of Film Critics and Viewers

    Opinions of Film Critics and Viewers

    Alexander Fedorov 100 most popular Soviet television movies and TV series: opinions of film critics and viewers Moscow, 2021 Fedorov A.V. 100 most popular Soviet television movies and TV series: opinions of film critics and viewers. Moscow: "Information for all", 2021. 144 p. What does the list of the hundred most popular Soviet television films and TV series look like? How did the press and viewers evaluate and rate these films? In this monograph, for the first time, an attempt is made to give a panorama of the hundred most popular Soviet television films and serials in the mirror of the opinions of film critics, film critics and viewers. The monograph is intended for high school teachers, students, graduate students, researchers, film critics, film experts, journalists, as well as for a circle of readers who are interested in the problems of cinema, film criticism and film sociology. Reviewer: Professor M.P. Thselyh. © Alexander Fedorov, 2021. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ………………………………….................................................................................... 4 100 most popular Soviet television movies and TV series: opinions of film critics and viewers ……………………………........................................................................................... 5 Interview on the release of the book "One Thousand and One Highest Grossing Soviet Movie: Opinions of Film Critics and Viewers"…………………………………………………………….. 119 List of "100 most popular Soviet television films and TV series.......................................... 125 About

  • Mentally Appropriated by Russia: the Differing Cases of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine

    Mentally Appropriated by Russia: The Differing Cases of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine Dorka Kornélia Takácsy Submitted to Central European University Department of International Relations In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Masters of Art in International Relations. Supervisor: Professor Anatoly Reshetnikov Word count: 17 118 CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2018 CEU eTD Collection Abstract The annexation of Crimea received popular Russian support, while the ongoing conflict in the Donbas, Eastern Ukraine receives little. This thesis argues that mental appropriation is important in understanding this anomaly. Analyzing literature and movies which make reference to the regions, shows that key elements were already present well before these events took place. The elements found in these media are then contrasted with recent news covering the two conflicts. While Crimea represents a strong emotional connection to being Russian, through its exoticism, the feeling of brotherhood, and Russian suffering, the Donbas has never had a significant place in the Russian mental map. The thesis suggests considering mental appropriation as one of the factors in understanding Russia’s possible foreign interventions in the future. CEU eTD Collection i Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Anatoly Reshetnikov for his guidance, constructive criticisms and precious advices. I owe an enormous thank you to Robin Bellers for his assistance, patience and proofreading my work. Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Kirill Matrenin for his tremendous help in finding data and understanding the contexts. CEU eTD Collection ii List of figures Figure 1: Compass of the Russian media ................................................................................